Fisher's challenge to the GOP

Republicans are divided here in Massachusetts just as much as the GOP at the national level. You just don’t hear about it, because few pay much attention to Massachusetts Republicans.

They are divided between old-line moderates and tea party zealots; between libertarians and religious conservatives; between big business and small business; between pragmatists and purists and — on next month’s primary ballot — between Charlie Baker and Mark Fisher.

There have been disagreements over style and tactics in the tiny Republican caucus on Beacon Hill. There’s been tension behind closed doors at GOP state committee meetings. Richard Tisei, the Republicans’ best shot at breaking into the state’s Congressional delegation, boycotted the state GOP convention earlier this year after social conservative delegates put anti-abortion and anti-same sex language into the party platform.

But for all their differences, there’s just one contest for the GOP nomination for statewide offices on the Sept. 9 primary ballot: Fisher vs. Baker for governor. And if party insiders had their way, there would be no choice in that race.

“Karyn Polito (now Baker’s running-mate), Ryan Fattman (a Worcester County rep now running for state Senate) and Chanel Prunier (a GOP national committee member) all came down to my office to try to talk me out of running,” Fisher said in an interview last week. They didn’t succeed, nor did some vote-counting shenanigans at the party convention. After Fisher sued party officials, they caved and put his name on the ballot.

Fisher is different from the other candidates for governor, in his background and on the issues. He owns a small business — a metal manufacturing company in Auburn with just seven employees. He has never worked in government and never run for office.

Fisher is a critic of government social programs, but he readily admits he’s had to collect unemployment checks more than once. When he speaks of immigration, it’s as someone who has hired immigrants — always checking their status through the federal e-Verify system — and works with them every day. In a year when all the candidates are promising to make better use of vocational high schools and community colleges to train the next generation of skilled craftspeople, Fisher speaks with an authority his opponents can’t match.

Unlike the others, Fisher doesn’t worry about climate change, he said. Baker and the three Democrats running for governor consider health care to be a right, he said, while he files health care as part of the “pursuit of happiness.”

If your pursuit of happiness includes a visit to a casino, though, Fisher would rather you not find it in Massachusetts. He compares his position to the strenuous opposition of Democrat Don Berwick, proving there is common ground between nanny state liberals and lifestyle police conservatives.

Fisher is running against Baker — he says Deval Patrick referred to Baker as his “identical twin” — and against the leadership of his own party. He’s upset that the state party gave an award to former Republican Gov. Bill Weld, who admitted he had voted for Barack Obama.

“Republicans here don’t run against Democrats,” he said. “They run as Democrats.”

He points to the Democrats’ domination of elected offices and the defeats of Republicans in recent contests as proof that strategy doesn’t work. He noted that 300,000 Republicans stayed home rather than vote for GOP Senate nominee Gabriel Gomez in last year’s special election.

So Fisher doesn’t tailor his positions to win over liberal independents. He rails against excessive taxes and regulations. He blames the state’s financial problems on welfare cheats and illegal immigrants. He promises to withhold state aid from any municipality that declares itself a “sanctuary city.” He calls the “tea party Republican” label he wears “a badge of honor.”

And he does it all with a smile on his face. Fisher’s tea party constituents may be angry, but he is as congenial as any candidate I’ve met on the trail.

Insiders assume Baker is the prohibitive front-runner for the Republican nomination, and the Baker campaign seems to be ignoring the primary completely.

Fisher said he hopes to surprise Baker on Sept. 9 the way a little-known tea party challenger unseated House Majority Leader Eric Cantor in Virginia. If he can get enough conservatives to pay attention, he just might.

Rick Holmes writes for MassPoliticalNews.com and the MetroWest Daily News. He can be reached at rholmes@wickedlocal.com. Follow MPN online or on Twitter @masspolinews.